Students storm into Barcelona train station, high-speed trains halted

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Students blocked train tracks in Barcelona and Girona on Wednesday, bringing high-speed train services to a standstill for most of the day in Girona and at least five hours at Barcelona's Sants station.

A general strike called by pro-independence campaigners in Catalonia closed shops and severed transport links.

Although most people did go to work, protesters closed roads, causing huge tailbacks into Barcelona, while some public transport ran minimum services and some smaller stores remained shuttered.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Barcelona's main Sant Jaume square to protest the imprisonment of politicians, chanting the name of ex-leader Carles Puigdemont and referring to him as "our president" and later thousands gathered to do the same at Cathedral Square in the evening.